Beckham Debuts Briefly as Chelsea Beats Los Angeles

David Beckham’s debut in America’s MLS was not the great moment in US sports that the cheerleaders of the leauge wanted. He has an ankle injury, and he’s not really ready to play seriously. Nevertheless, he walked onto the field Saturday to play 16 minutes in the LA Galaxy’s friendly against this journal’s long-standing favorite Chelsea FC. The 27,000 fans cheered, he took a free kick, and that was that. And Chelsea, in the middle of its off-season, won 1-0.

The best assessment of Mr. Beckham’s talent came from the late and tragic George Best. The Ulsterman said the Galaxy’s newest player “cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn’t score many goals. Apart from that he’s all right.” What Mr. Beckham has is a winning smile, a charisma, a talent for leadership. This makes him a celebrity rather than a sports star.

After losing to Chelsea (that is always a fun phrase to type), Mr. Beckham and his wife Victoria a/k/a Posh Spice, went to a party in their honor thrown by Tom Cruise and Will Smith at the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA. ITV reports, “David and Victoria Beckham posed on the red carpet arm-in-arm with Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith, Katie Holmes and Cruise, who had flown in from Germany where he is shooting his latest film. Earlier, Beckham had made his football debut for LA Galaxy before a celebrity-packed crowd which included California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, British actors Ray Winstone and John Hurt, and Spice Girls svengali Simon Fuller. Victoria watched from a private box with Katie Holmes, who brought along baby daughter Suri.”

A good time was, no doubt, had by all. How much longer that happens is largely up to Mr. Beckham. In a Sports Illustrated cover story recently, he showed that he understood his position and the unrealistic expectations. He told the reporter that the fans and the media expect LA to win 10-0 because he’s on the field, and that just isn’t going to happen. But he’s got to do something once the ankle is better (in a week or two).

The LA Galaxy is next to the bottom right now in the MLS Western Division. Indeed, because CD Chivas is third, that means the Galaxy isn’t even the best team in Los Angeles. The club has some time to catch up before its final game of the regular season against Chicago on October 21. But if the team doesn’t climb up in the standings, there might be more people who agree George Best.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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